Silver Sabre 17-2

KOSOVO

11.03.2017

CAMP BONDSTEEL, Kosovo – The ability to integrate two armed forces from different countries having separate languages and tactical skills is not an easy task, but that is exactly what was accomplished during Silver Sabre 17-2.
Soldiers from the Polish military contingent and U.S. Soldiers from 2-504th Parachute Infantry Regiment have been training together since October 30, 2017, in order to work up to their objective training scenario – hasty hostage rescue.
The two armies were tasked to perform room and house clearing techniques during Exercise Silver Sabre 17-2, a massive multinational exercise held Oct. 30 - Nov. 3 at Camp Vrello and Camp Pomazatin near Pristina, Kosovo.
“For the last couple of days we’ve been working together on Battle Drill 6, which is basically entering and clearing out rooms,” said Sgt. Matthew Wade, a team leader with 2-504th PIR. “We’ve expanded upon that by using their tactics and integrating our squads and teams by having offset Polish and American forces.”
Wade continued to say that they’ve combined the two armies’ tactics of how to enter and clear a house without much difficulty at all.
After only having trained together for a few days, the Polish and U.S. forces managed to bring their tactical experiences together in what appeared to be a seamless transition.
“We started our training with each other in glass houses since Monday,” said 2nd Lt. Maciek Wachowski, a 2nd platoon commander for the Polish military contingent. “Our tactics were slightly different from theirs, but we managed to learn how to do it the same way together.”
A glass house is a military terminology used for an open field with engineer tape positioned on the ground to simulate an actual building.
Wachowski also said that the U.S. Soldiers were well trained and well prepared in close combat training. The cooperation between the two armies has been going really well.
Jeffrey agreed with Wachowski by saying that the two forces came together very quickly and learned from each other in a very short time. He continued to say that the Soldiers were pretty excited to be a part of an exercise with a foreign army because it’s not something they get to do very often back at Fort Bragg.
“Working with the Polish soldiers in clearing rooms while establishing a safety area around the objective was our assigned task,” said 2nd Lt. Bart Jeffrey, a platoon leader of Delta Company, 2-504 PIR. “What we’re really trying to accomplish here is interoperability with the Polish soldiers. Being able to work hand in hand every day for hours on end with a foreign army that is aligned with you is very productive and very rewarding.”